Weaving needle



May 17, 193s. A, Q 'NELSON 2,117,350

WEAVING NEEDLE Filed Aug. l, 1936 Fly] Patented May 17,1938

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 1,

4 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to a needle and more particularly to a Weaving needle having an oifset pointed end adapted to easily separate and successively pick up adjacent strands of thread or 5 yarn on opposite sides of the needle while weaving.

The general aim of the invention-is to provide an improved needle by means of which weaving operations may be performed with greater facility and speed and with less attention and effort on the part of the person doing the weaving.

More particularly, I provide an improved needle by means of which the successive threads may be more conveniently and readily picked up, and danger of dropping a stitch is minimized.

My improved arrangement permits of the use of a longer needle, the weaving of a wider pattern, and the weaving with warp threads more tightly stretched.

Other objects and advantages will be evident as the description proceeds.

My invention accordingly resides in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I have shown, for illustrative purposes, one embodiment which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a weaving frame and showing in side elevation the application of my needle to a weaving operation for strands supported on the frame;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a weaving operation and showing my needle in substantially the same position illustrated in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 to '7, inclusive, illustrate the successive steps of a weaving operation with my needle;

Fig. 8 shows the application of my needle to a weaving operation wherein the warp strands initially lie in diierent planes; and I Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

In accordance with my invention, I have provided a needle I having the usual type `of eye II adapted to receive a suitable strand of thread or yarn and having a forward tapering end, generally indicated at I2. This forward end is of a somewhat stepped shape and adapted to greatly facilitate a weaving operation in such manner that it tends to prevent the dropping of stitches. My needle is shown performing a weaving operation in conjunction with a suitable weaving frame I4 of substantially rectangular shape and supporting a series of spaced pins I about which 1936, serial No. 93,849

the yarn may be located in a well-known manner. This weaving frame does not comprise a part of the present invention but is simply illustrated as a convenient support for the weaving operation, and it may be constructed in any suitable manner.

As herein shown, the yarn is wound about the successive pins I5 in such a manner as to provide a multiplicity of slightly spaced but substantially parallel threads'or strands I 6 extending across the frame throughout its length and corresponding with the warp strands in a weaving operation. To complete the weaving operation, the needle Ill, having a suitable strand of yarn Il passing through its eye I I, is alternately woven above and beneath the warp strands I6 to form the cross strands or weft. It will be understood, of course, that the strands I6 and Il may comprise individual strands, or they may comprise a single continuous strand suitably wound about pins I5, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 8, and 9. In Figs. 1 and 2, strands I6 are successively wound about adjacent pins to lie in substantially the same plane. Figs. 8 and 9 show a different way of winding the warp strands and wherein the end of the strands pass around pins I5 in adjacent overlapping relation to initially position the warp strands in different planes.

Prior types of weaving needles not only tended to drop stitches, but also had to be carefully and angularly moved during a weaving operation in order to elevate or dip the point of the needle relative to the plane of the warp strands to pick up successive warp strands. In fact, with a tightly stretched warp, this angular movement proved so diicult after the needle had advanced a short distance across the pattern as to necessitate a manual manipulation of the warp strands to aid in locating them above or below the point of the needle. To overcome these various diiculties which are inherent with prior needles, the forward tapering end I2 of my needle is provided with a short offset pointed end portion I2. This end portion is substantially parallel to the body portion of the needle and preferably provided with a length slightly longer than the diameter of a strand of the material being woven. The end portion and body portion of the needle are interconnected by an intermediate angularly disposed short shoulder portion I2 which is of such length as tgto oifset end portion I2 to such an extent that during a weaving operation it will normally project above or beneath the warp strands. This shoulder portion prevents tendency of the needle to drop stitches and also serves to cam the warp strands into their required pol sitions on either side of the needle during a weaving operation.

As shown in Figs. 3 to 7 which illustrate the successive stages of my needle movement during a weaving operation with respect to three adjacent warp strands lying substantially in the same plane and herein designated as a, b, and c, the needle is rst fed beneath strand a and over strand b with end portion I2 located above the plane of the body portion of the needle and projecting above the warp strands I6 so that the shoulder portion I2 first deiiects strand by away from strand a and towards strand c, as shown in Fig. 3. As the needle is further fed forward (Fig. 4), shoulder portion I2 cams strand b beneath the body portion of the needle and on the opposite side therefrom from strand a. Unlike p-rior weaving operations, the extent of forward needle movement at this time is relatively unimportant as long as the needle is fed forward sufciently to depress strand bt beneath the body portion of the needle and on the opposite side of the needle from strand a. It will be appreciated, of course, that the weaving operation could have been started in a reverse manner to accomplish the same general result by iirst passing the needle above strand a, and thereafter beneath strand b` with the pointed end I'Z' located beneath the plane of the body portion of the needle.

As herein illustrated, during the initial feeding operation of my needle, end I2' and the body portion of the needle overlie strand b. After the needle has reached this position7 it is rotated in either direction through approximately 180 so that end portion I 2 depresses against the warp' strands and lies below the plane of the body portion of the needle, as shown in Fig. 5. The needle is then withdrawn in a reverse direction to its normal feeding movement and to the position shown in Fig. 6 wherein shoulder portion I2 deects strand b towards strand a to such an extent that end portion I2' will underlie the general plane of strand c. The needle is then fed forwardly again so that shoulder portion I2 will cam strand c above the body of the needle and "Y on the oppositeV side thereof from strand b, as

' of the needle beneath strand c.

shown in Fig, 7. Similar to the prior forward feed of the needle, the extent of feeding movement at this time need not be precisely limited, but must be suflicient to engage the body portion This oscillatory and rotary feeding cycle is successively repeated until the needle has passed between all of the warp strands, after which the needle is pulled through the warp to bring the weft strand into proper woven relation with the warp strands.

In View of the deecting and camming action of shoulder portion I2", a wider pattern may be woven than has been found practicable with prior types of needles, since it is not necessary to angularly move my needle during weaving. Furthermore, the deecting action of shoulder I2 facilitates weaving between warp strands which are closer together and more tightly tensioned than in prior types of weaving operations.

It is not believed necessary to illustrate or describe in detail the weaving operation with my needle in respect to warp strands as positioned in Figs. 8 and 9 since the cycle of operal tion is identical and the offset of end I2 is suicient to position the advancing point of my needle above or beneath the warp strands, as the case may be, and shoulder I2 operates in the same manner as previously described.

It will thus be evident that the weaving operation of my needle is easily accomplished by an alternate forward and reversed feeding operation interposed by a semi-rotation of the needle, and the shoulder portion I2 will serve three distinct purposes; namely, separating the strands so that the pointed end I2' may lie thereabove and therebeneath, camming the strands into desired positions, and preventing the tendency of the needle to drop stitches. It will further be appreciated that my needle has provided a convenient and simple means for accomplishing the weaving operation which does not necessitate a careful scrutiny of the work by the operator during a Weaving operation, since the needle may be fed any distance beyond one of the strands and then turned and pulled back to drop the point beneath the next strand.

It will also be appreciated that the needle may be fed through the warp strands by an intermittent forward feed interposed by a semi-rotation of the needle to cam the strands into their successive required positions. using my needle, it is simultaneously fedforward and rotated through approximately 180 to cause the shoulder portion I2 to flex the strands into desired positions during its rotation and cam them back onto the body portion of the needle.

It will be understood that this combined feeding and camming action is successively repeated for each strand, and it will be further understood'that in either of these methods for employing my needle, it is preferable to first rotate the needle in one direction and then in an opposite direction' to prevent snarling of the weft strand secured to the eye of the needle. This latter method of weaving is particularly useful in weaving the last few weft strands since the pattern is well lled at this time and the warp strands are less capable of deeoting as the needle is moved therebetween.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely diiferent embodiments of this invention could be made` without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying'drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specic features 'of the invention herein described and all Vstatements of theV scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween'.`

I claim as my invention:

1. A weaving needle having an eye at one end and terminating at its other end in a rigid tapering portion, said tapered end of the needle terminating in a relatively short length which is oifset from the body portion of the needle and substantially in parallel relation thereto. Y

2. A weaving needle having an eye at one end, and a conically tapering rigidstepped portion at the other end of the needle terminating in a point, said stepped portion having a short end length offset from the body portion of the needle and connected thereto by an intermediate sloping shoulder portion.

3. A weaving needle comprising a strand re.- ceiving end, the other end of the needle being tapered, said tapered end having a short length disposed substantially parallel to the body portion of the needle and axially spaced therefrom, and an intermediate sloping shoulder portion rigidly a short straight length disposed substantially parallel to the body portion and rigidly interconnected therewith by a short, angularly disposed length adapted to cam the adjacent strands successively into their required positions during 5 Weaving.

ARTHUR S. NELSON. 

